Participants in winter activities which require a certain amount of manual dexterity have had to make sacrifices in choosing between mittens for warmth and gloves with individual fingers which provide freedom of movement. Conventional mittens provide more protection against cold than a glove having individual fingers. The grouping of the fingers within the cap of a mitten provides an increase in comfort and warmth to the user.
However, one relying on mittens for warmth sacrifices the manual dexterity provided by the individual fingers of a glove. Mittens lack the feel imparted by a fingered glove and the bulk of the cap of the mitten may inhibit the grasping of items such as ski poles, rifles or tools.
Limiting one's choice to fingered gloves is also not always acceptable since some activities require long periods of exposure to extremely cold temperatures.
There is a need to provide hand insulation which provides both the warmth of mittens and the manual dexterity provided by gloves. Gloves which attempt to solve this problem are known to the art.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,743 to Thornell et al., which issued Nov. 10, 1987, discloses a ski glove which has removable thumb and index portions to completely expose the thumb and index fingers for added movement. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,318,785 to Kopplin, which issued May 11, 1943, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,451,837 to La Londe et al., which issued Oct. 19, 1948, disclose mittens with slots which allow the temporary exposure of the digits to allow dexterity for short periods. These patented articles fail to solve the problem of providing the warmth of a mitten while permitting the long term dexterity of a fingered glove. In order to provide the necessary manual dexterity, the articles require completely exposing the user's digits to the elements, thus limiting the time the user can enjoy the benefits of manual dexterity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,064,266 to Veght, Jr., which issued on Nov. 20, 1962 and U.S. Pat. No. 1,113,870 to Billings, which issued Oct. 13, 1914, both disclose gloves which have a mitten cap either applied over or wrapped around the fingers of a glove. This combination results in a hand covering which consists of both individual fingers and a mitten cap. This attempt to solve the above described problem results in a glove/mitten combination which allows less manual dexterity than the poor manual dexterity offered by a mitten alone, while not providing the full warmth benefits of a mitten. Further, the design of these gloves require that the mitten cap be affixed to the body of the glove when not in use, further inhibiting the manual dexterity of the user and resulting in a bulky and uncomfortable glove.
Other patents which attempt to provide gloves or products for use in winter activities include U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,740 to Rinehart (Aug. 8, 1978) which describes a mitten/glove product with specific flexing points; U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,405 to Monk (Apr. 1, 1980) which describes a knitted glove that allows a knitted material to be pulled up over the finger and thumb sections to create additional protection; U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,784 to Harrington (Nov. 23, 1982) which describes a coat cuff extension to provide coverage of the hand; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,934,332 to Skinner, which describes a washable gauntlet. These patents do not solve the above described problem nor do they relate to the design or strategy of the invention of the present application.